DeChambeau on Royal Troon: ‘I don’t think it’s possible to overpower it’

TROON, Scotland – Bryson DeChambeau leads the LIV Golf League in driving distance. He has as much ball speed, carry average, spin rates and whatever other metrics and data points you want to use as any world-class player in the game.

But he won’t be able to overpower Royal Troon at this week’s Open Championship.

“I don't think it's possible,” the Crushers GC captain said Tuesday.

That doesn’t mean he can’t win, of course. While relying on distance advantages to separate himself from the field, DeChambeau’s game has matured. Although he led the field in driving distance at last month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, he won his second major with impressive amounts of creativity and craftiness. You saw his 55-yard greenside bunker shot to set up the winning par, right?

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To become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2000 to win both the U.S. Open and Open Championship, DeChambeau knows he will need a different gameplan on the seaside course in western Scotland.

Finding fairways – and avoiding bunkers – is essential. So is a low ball flight, which is antithesis to DeChambeau's usual approach. He will need a controlled golf ball underneath the wind. “Super key this week,” he said.

Can he do it? Certainly. 

Is it a realistic possibility? Well, we’ll find out in due course over the four rounds starting Thursday.

DeChambeau is confident he can adjust. He’s had the best run of major results of any golfer this year – a career-best tie for sixth at the Masters; a 20-under runner-up finish at the PGA Championship that was the best non-winning score in major history; and of course, his win at Pinehurst. His game is more versatile than some may think.

“You've got to be very strategic out here,” he said. “Look, I've played well on strategic golf courses in the past, whether it be RBC Heritage, I've played well there in the past. Valderrama, I played pretty well. I had two top 10s there, finished second last year and ninth this year. Those are pretty strategic golf courses and very placement-oriented golf courses.

“So, I think I’m pretty solid at it.”

Even so, he knows the adjustments might be jarring. On his first practice hole of the week at the par-4 450-yard 10th, he stepped up to the tee box and … well, he wasn’t sure where to hit it. There was not an immediate visual line he could focus on.

On the next hole, the par-4 498-yard 11th, he realized that driver will be required into a strong wind, even though a 3-wood is the safer play for the must-find fairway.

“Getting a good feel and being comfortable with the visuals is one of the most important things,” he said. “Even as technical as I am, I still need to see and feel things as much as possible.”

For a golfer who is intent on eliminating – or at least, reducing – the amount of variables during a given round, DeChambeau faces the ultimate test at the Open. He is not the first American confronted with that situation, of course. But the greats eventually figure it out. Fellow LIV Golf captain Phil Mickelson won in his 20th Open start. 

DeChambeau has less experience to fall back on: the 30-year-old is making just his seventh start at the British major this week. Two years ago, at St Andrews, he produced his first top-10 finish. He also played well at Royal Lytham during the Walker Cup at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2015, winning two matches and halving the other.

“It can be a difficult challenge,” he admitted. “I wouldn't say it's a problem. It's a challenge. I think that's what's so great about links golf and The Open Championship, and what it provides is a different test to try and figure out and get an A on, I guess you could say. …

“It's always been a difficult test for me because I wasn't great at putting early on in my career. I've gotten a little bit better. My wedge game has gotten better. I've learned to flight the ball a little bit. 

“So slowly it's getting there. Just a couple more reps. Shoot, if I play well this week, I think I can give myself a good chance obviously. That's all I'm focused on. I just think over the course of time I'm going to get more and more comfortable with this golf course.”

Maybe it doesn’t happen this week. But maybe it does. Given his form in majors this year, it’s difficult to bet against him. Even if he doesn’t immediately know where to hit it off the 10th tee.

(Photo courtesy of Charlie Crowhurst/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)